1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system, an apparatus and method for processing information, and an information processing program, and more particularly, to an information processing system, an apparatus and method for processing information, and an information processing program, which allow a user to easily transmit/receive information in a secured manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
In many situations, personal information of a user is transmitted from a device connected to a network such as the Internet to another device on the network.
For example, when a user accesses a mail-order sales Web site from his/her general-purpose personal computer to purchase merchandise (in so-called online shopping), the user is required to transmit personal information such as a credit card number, a user name, and/or a telephone number from his/her personal computer to a particular computer. When a user responds to a questionnaire from a particular Web site, the user transmits a reply to the questionnaire from his/her personal computer to a particular computer. In another example, when a user makes a user registration of a purchased electric appliance via a network, the user transmits registration information from his/her personal computer to a particular computer.
In another example, when a reservation for a ticket or the like is made via a network or when stocks are sold/purchased via an electronic commerce system, users are required to transmit information necessary in transactions to specified computers via networks such as the Internet.
Also in many other situations, it is required to transmit personal information from a device connected to a network to another device on the network.
However, when personal information of a user is transmitted from a device connected to a network to another device on the network, the user cannot easily know whether or not the information has been transmitted or where the information has been transmitted to, and thus the user must be worried.
In particular, in a case in which information transmitted from a device such as a personal computer to another device on the network includes information which should be kept secret such as a credit card number, it is important for a user to know whether the information has been successfully transmitted to a correct destination. If the user cannot know whether or not the information has been transmitted to the correct destination, the user must be worried.
Another problem is that in some cases information is transmitted from a personal computer or the like to another device on the network without letting a user know how important information (which should be kept secret) is going to be transmitted.
A system is known in which a 3-dimensional virtual space is displayed on a display of a general-purpose computer, and a character allowed to be freely moved by a user is displayed in the virtual space. Such a system is used, for example, for online shops or various kinds of questionnaires.
When online shopping or a questionnaire is performed in such a 3-dimensional virtual space, a window for displaying a payment Web page or a questionnaire Web page is displayed on a display of a personal computer separately from the 3-dimensional virtual space so that information to be transmitted/received is input via the displayed separate window. However, employing such a window for displaying a payment Web page or a questionnaire Web page displayed separately from the 3-dimensional space makes it impossible to provide all service in a consistent manner only via the single 3-dimensional virtual space.
When personal information of a user is transmitted from a device connected to a network to another device on the network, if the user cancels the transmission of the information in the middle of transmission, a part of the information can have already be transmitted before the transmission is cancelled.
When information which should be kept secret, such as a credit card number or the like, is included in information transmitted from a personal computer or the like to another device on the network, if even a part of the information is transmitted, there is a possibility that the transmitted information is used for a bad purpose, and thus the user must be worried.